- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: New English Library; New Ed edition (2 Feb 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340617136
- ISBN-13: 978-0340617137
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 135,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'The most under-rated crime writer in Britain today' (Val McDermid )
'Captures perfectly the drab atmosphere and cloying morality of the 1950s . . . Taylor is an excellent writer. He plots with care and intelligence and the solution to the mystery is satisfyingly chilling' (The Times )
'There is no denying Taylor's talent, his almost Victorian prose exudes a quality uncommon among his contemporaries... his eye for detail and an enviable ability to dissect relationships and communal habits make for a pleasurable read' (Time Out )
'Engrossing launch of a series... Taylor subtly weaves the threads of this thoughtful, melancholy tale until they become an interlaced whole before the reader's eyes' (Publishers Weekly )
'Captures perfectly the drab atmosphere and cloying morality of the 1950s . . . Taylor is an excellent writer. He plots with care and intelligence and the solution to the mystery is satisfyingly chilling' (The Times )
'There is no denying Taylor's talent, his almost Victorian prose exudes a quality uncommon among his contemporaries... his eye for detail and an enviable ability to dissect relationships and communal habits make for a pleasurable read' (Time Out )
'Engrossing launch of a series... Taylor subtly weaves the threads of this thoughtful, melancholy tale until they become an interlaced whole before the reader's eyes' (Publishers Weekly )
Review
'The most under-rated crime writer in Britain today' -- Val McDermid 'Captures perfectly the drab atmosphere and cloying morality of the 1950s ... Taylor is an excellent writer. He plots with care and intelligence and the solution to the mystery is satisfyingly chilling' -- The Times 'There is no denying Taylor's talent, his almost Victorian prose exudes a quality uncommon among his contemporaries... his eye for detail and an enviable ability to dissect relationships and communal habits make for a pleasurable read' -- Time Out 'Engrossing launch of a series... Taylor subtly weaves the threads of this thoughtful, melancholy tale until they become an interlaced whole before the reader's eyes' -- Publishers Weekly
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the first in the Lydmouth series by this author.
It's trying to do something very different from the Roth books so I don't think comparisons work.
It is I think a very atmospheric evocation of the 1950s in a small town, with some local characters but focusing mainly on the newly arrived police inspector and a journalist from London. Both are outsiders. He is doing the police work, she is taking her own journalistic interest in the investigation so you get the two views of the case. Occasionally, they collide.
I liked the combination of the police procedural and the personal aspects of the story as they have equal importance.
Many of these characters will come back again in later stories and the series very skillfully builds up the picture of a small town with its rivalries, crooks, some big, some small, colourful characters. It's more than a crime novel (although I think it does that very well), it's also a subtle portrait of a community at a time of change. Fascinating.
Of course the fact that this is part of a series doesn't mean that this book doesn't have to stand on its own. I think it does. I went on to read the rest of the series in very short order (and enjoyed them all).
It's trying to do something very different from the Roth books so I don't think comparisons work.
It is I think a very atmospheric evocation of the 1950s in a small town, with some local characters but focusing mainly on the newly arrived police inspector and a journalist from London. Both are outsiders. He is doing the police work, she is taking her own journalistic interest in the investigation so you get the two views of the case. Occasionally, they collide.
I liked the combination of the police procedural and the personal aspects of the story as they have equal importance.
Many of these characters will come back again in later stories and the series very skillfully builds up the picture of a small town with its rivalries, crooks, some big, some small, colourful characters. It's more than a crime novel (although I think it does that very well), it's also a subtle portrait of a community at a time of change. Fascinating.
Of course the fact that this is part of a series doesn't mean that this book doesn't have to stand on its own. I think it does. I went on to read the rest of the series in very short order (and enjoyed them all).
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read all of the Lydmout hbooks and I find they evoke 1950s Britain very powerfully. The writing is excellent and makes reading the books a pleasure. The characters are completely believable and, unlike another reviewer, I didn't find the plot at all predictable. Thoroughly recommended.
Format:Paperback
The Lydmouth Series is very good in its portrayal of what it was actually like to live in post-WWII England. I was born during the war and I can vouch for that. Andrew Taylor writes well-constructed, well-written police detective mysteries of an old-fashioned kind. They have many virtues; if you're someone who likes that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you'll like.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
`They say November used to be called the month of the dead.'
Set in the 1950s in Lydmouth, an ancient market town on the border between England and Wales. Two newcomers to Lydmouth: Jill Francis and Detective Inspector Richard Thornhill... Read more
Published on 30 April 2010 by J. Cameron-Smith
An Air That Kills by Andrew Taylor
A very good book. Interesting to read about English life 60 years ago. It's modern history and a crime story.
Published on 21 April 2010 by M. Wahlström
Bones in an English village
First Sentence: November is the month of the dead.
Both journalist Jill Francis and Inspector Richard Thornhill are new to Lydmouth and both have issues in their lives. Read more
Both journalist Jill Francis and Inspector Richard Thornhill are new to Lydmouth and both have issues in their lives. Read more
Published on 9 April 2009 by L. J. Roberts
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